The Novella-The New IT Book

The 3 Tips on How Writers Can Learn From Authors Who Write Them

The novella, not to be confused with Mexican soap operas, telenovelas which are grand in their own genre of storytelling. However, the pocket-sized books great for academic learning or a quick escapism have been around longer than you might have guessed. Since the average novel flows between 250 and 400 pages, some may be hard pressed to remember a time when they read a short and sweet story.

I am here to remind you why the novella (considered by most agents and publications a work of under 150 pages) is popular among students and readers and how today’s reader want something quick, fun, and knowledgeable.

Tip #1

The Shorter the Better

Why? If you can tell your story in 110 pages, why do I need to read 300? Look at your bookshelf or one in a bookstore. Your eyes instantly gravitate to thin, short (not just length, but the height of the book) readings, with a cover catching your eye and an enticing title. It may hook you before you finish the first page.

Who writes these amazing brief stories? Talented authors of our past and present, of course. Think, At the Bottom of the River by Jamaica Kincaid, or The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison and James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. They are complete stories with themes that resonate with readers even today.

For a writer looking to break into the field, find an agent and a large readership should tackle the novella. Each sentence, each paragraph gives you a lesson on writing. No class or expensive on-line courses needed. Read what you want to write and then write it.

Challenge: take your 500 page manuscript, break it into two novellas and make it shorter — a lot shorter. Cut to the chase.

Still Not Sure How?

Tip #2

Write Like Authors of Novellas

We have all heard of or read Stephen King’s The Body. Yes, you have. They made it into a movie called, Stand By Me. What about: Of Mice and Men, a brilliant feat created and still selling strong today, at just under 110 pages-107 to be exact.

Night by Elie Wiesel. Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis at a slim 44 pages. Animal Farm by George Orwell at only 112 pages. What do all these books have in common? They are still popular today. We study and teach these works of art in classrooms and writing workshop groups.

The themes in these books are universal. They are relevant. If you have something to say, say it. But say it to your audience in every country, every city, every village. Someone somewhere wants to (needs to) hear what you have to say.

So, say it, but make it short and sweet.

Tip #3

The Art of the Long Form Novel Shorten to the Exceptional Screenplay

A professor once told me, don’t steal (plagiarise) but borrow. If your novel (novella) has yet to be completed, look to the novels and writers you admire. What do you like about their style, their tone, their use of characters, the story, the setup etc… borrow — don’t steal.

Most of Stephen King’s novellas became movies, Apt Pupil, The Mist, The Body, and so on. Why? Because an already tight story leaves little to cut. Imagine taking a 400 page manuscript and cutting it to 120 page script. It can be done. It has been done, but it is a lot of work.

Challenge: take your novel, novella, or book idea and write it out as if it were a movie. Write it like a screenplay. It is easier to fill in the exposition once the majority of the story has unfolded before your eyes. Try it.

You may like it and you may discover a screenwriter in training or, better, a novelist who can turn out a script or novella in no time.

Final Thoughts:

When you pull up a list of novellas, it will shock you at what you find. And what you don’t.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me at 152 pages and a New York Times Bestseller never came up no matter what I put in google search.

Nor did, Citizen, by Claudia Rankine. They are great reads and teach the writer a great deal about style and form. Also see, The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch and The Bridges of Madison County, by Robert James Waller, don’t let the page count on this one fool you — the compact book can be read in a

matter of hours.

Fabulous pocket books that offer the reader and the writer everything they seek in a book. Adventure, knowledge, empathy, compassion, relatability.

I am not alone. No, you are not. Now go write and tell us your story.